5 Things You Should Know About Authentic Chinese Artifacts
Are you interested in collecting or learning about ancient Chinese artifacts?
Artifacts are exclusive man-made items that are often hard to come by. It’s an object that can prove or support history. Archeologists use these to conduct studies and find what happened before our time.
Chinese artifacts are interesting to study because of their rich historical background. These ancient Chinese arts exhibit the culture and beliefs of people from the past. Many collect ancient Chinese art to build a collection or decorate their homes.
In this article, you will learn things you need to know about authentic Chinese artifacts. Read on to discover more!
1. History of the Chinese Artifacts
Chinese artifacts have been around since 10,000 B.C.E. It includes sculpting, pottery, and jade carving. There's also evidence of ancient landscape paintings, music, and poem composition.
Chinese artifacts keep developing as time progresses. One great example is the practice of carving jade. Each dynasty had a unique method and style for carving jade stone.
It’s vital to look up the history of an artifact not only for its general background. Ancient Chinese art tells the story of the artist. It reflects the character and personality of the creator as well.
Fan Kuan’s Travelers Among Mountains and Streams is a famous example. Fan Kuan went to the mountain to observe and learn from nature. It’s a painting showing the relationship of man to nature.
This ancient Chinese artwork depicts the Taoism belief of Fan Kuan. The Travelers among Mountains and Streams is a renowned landscape painting. It has a height of 6.75 and a width of 2.50, both in feet.
2. Common Types of Chinese Artifacts
Chinese artifacts are available in many types. Chinese sculpture, vessels, and paintings are the common artifacts available even today.
The sculptural art of China exhibits the life of the people. Sculptors used different elements to show their stories. They present their beliefs and views in life through sculpting.
They used the Chinese vessels to put their sacrificial offerings such as grain, meat, and wine. Vessels come in the form of plates, pots, and vases as well.
There are spiral carvings or designs in the bronze vessels. However, specialists don’t know the meaning behind these designs.
Artists paint on silk or rice paper instead of the canvas before. You can see people’s perceptions of nature. Their political and philosophical views may also reflect on their paintings.
The message and style of these paintings changes in every dynasty. They expressed their thoughts through painting and other forms of art like writing. Keep in mind they painted on silk or rice paper authentic in ancient Chinese art.
3. Symbolisms in Chinese Artifacts
The history behind these Chinese artifacts doesn’t only reveal their origin. It presents the culture, values, and beliefs of the people as well. Artists used various elements in their Chinese sculptures, paintings, and other works.
The typical imageries they use artworks in are the animals and fruits. The most common animals include the crane, lion, horse, and monkey. For the fruits, they use peach, orange, apple, and pear.
The crane represents peace, and the lion is a symbol of good fortune. Both the horse and monkey depict success.
Peach is a symbol of immortality, while orange symbolizes happiness. The apple symbolizes peace, while the pear represents prosperity.
However, they use more elements for symbolism besides animals and fruits. They use flowers and colors as well, such as peonies, lotus flowers, red and yellow.
They associate peonies with wealth and virtue. The lotus flowers originated from Buddhism, which means purity.
The color red represents luck, prosperity, health, and happiness. People associate the color yellow with the emperor and heaven. However, it sometimes symbolizes mourning.
Besides Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism influenced Chinese art as well. A man's courtesy is vital in Chinese philosophy. They make these artworks to show their love for nature, their moral beliefs, and the meaning of life.
They present these teachings through painting and calligraphy.
Artists from olden times applied the teachings of Confucius into their art. It focuses more on man’s duty to his family. Thus, it’s common to see portraits of the family in Chinese artifacts.
Daoism is a philosophical belief focusing on living in harmony. It believes one exists because of the other. As mentioned, one example of this is Fan Kuan’s Travelers Among Mountains and Streams.
4. Authenticity and Provenance Check
After learning the origin and background of a Chinese artifact, verify its authenticity. Authentication is checking and confirming the legitimacy of an individual or an item. It’s a method experts use to avoid fraudulence.
Authentication is crucial when identifying an artifact. It affects archeological study and allows others to deceive people.
Museums make and use replicas of these items because they're rare and irreplaceable. However, some people produce fake artifacts to deceive people into buying forged items.
Search and study the origin, background, and even the details of an artifact. Look for many specialists and ask questions. Seek accurate provenance for the artifact.
5. Checking the Condition
It’s vital to check the condition of these artifacts. It's possible it got repaired and restored to preserve these relics. With this, there are chances that some parts of the artifact got altered or worn.
The value of the artifact decreases when this happens. Be careful about these small details. Ask for a specialist’s opinion about the worth of an artifact after repair.
As mentioned, do some research and study the artifact. Familiarize yourself with even the small details.
Things to Know About Authentic Chinese Artifacts
These are the things you need to know about Chinese artifacts. Ancient Chinese art exhibits the culture, beliefs, and perceptions of the people. Studying the history of the artwork and artist tells a lot about the piece.
Artists from the olden times used elements and symbolism to tell their stories. Thus, it’s vital to authenticate the artifacts to prove their legitimacy and value. If you want to see some interesting Chinese artifacts, check out our collection here!